Money Flower follows the story of people who think that they have power over money, but they are actually controlled by their greed for it. Pil Joo (Jang Hyuk) is a talented man who becomes the top lawyer for a large corporation and is praised for his skills at his job. But in reality, he has set in motion an intricate plan for revenge that will topple the greedy family who owns the corporation.

Do you like revenge? Do you like secrets of every kind? What about lots of angst and soapy goodness? Plenty of twists and turns? Well, look no further than Money Flower! It’s got all of that and more to give us quite a thrilling ride!

Jang Hyuk plays Kang Pil Joo, and he’s out for revenge on the family that wronged him. Jang Hyuk could not be any more perfect for a character like this. While Pil Joo is is very calm and collected, he has such a powerful presence.

And Jang Hyuk is able to deliver an almost endless amount of subtle facial expressions that convey the many different emotions he is feeling. From anger, to sadness, to pride, to love. All the emotions are there. It really is incredible.

You must have someone like Jang Hyuk in a role like this to showcase the many aspects of Pil Joo. Watching him was completely captivating, and he commands your attention with just his presence. A phenomenal performance by Jang Hyuk all around!

Jang Seung Jo is Jang Boo Cheon who is the eldest grandson of the Jang family. But the head of the corporation, his grandfather, favors Boo Cheon’s younger cousin. This causes Bo Cheon and his mother to have to fight for their position in the family. Boo Cheon is a spoiled and immature man that needs Pil Joo’s help and guidance to execute their plans.

Park Se Young is Na Mo Hyun. She’s an incredibly kind woman who believes in fated love. She’s also the daughter of an assembly man who plans to run for president. Pil Joo convinces the Jang family that aligning with her father will better their position, so they develop a plan to have Boo Cheon “coincidentally” meet Mo Hyun and begin a romantic relationship that will lead to marriage. This puts her right in the middle of this crazy family and Pil Joo’s revenge scheme.

Lee Mi Sook plays Jung Mal Ran who is Boo Cheon’s mother. She is the main orchestrator of trying to position Boo Cheon for future power. And she’s willing to do anything to accomplish her goals.

She makes Pil Joo her right hand man that executes all her orders. But little does she know that she is also Pil Joo’s main target for revenge for her evil deeds. Mal Ran is one despicable character, but she sure is an interesting one. And Lee Mi Sook was wonderful in the role.

Pil Joo and Mal Ran also have quite an interesting dynamic between them. While Pil Joo carefully executes his plans, he becomes absolutely vital to Mal Ran. And while she always sees herself as far above him, she takes this strange liking to him which includes some surprisingly sensual chemistry. Not something I expected when originally being introduced to them! It’s just something you have to see to understand.

Money Flower is the definition of soapy goodness! This is one of those juicy dramas filled with secrets of all kinds and twists at every turn. There are affairs, birth secrets, cover ups, bribery, and even murder! It’s makjang at its finest.

There is an intricate revenge plan in place as we have Pil Joo as the puppet master who plays everyone according to his wishes. It’s brilliant to watch unfold! He knows everything that is going on and how to position everyone. And when things go wrong, he’s ready to put things back together and continue on with his mission. It was seriously entertaining to watch!

I’m not a big fan of business politics, so I was concerned how I would feel about this drama. But for being a story set right in the middle of business power plays, I found that I was very much enjoying it all.

While there are plenty of business dealings, it is all really just a backdrop for a well laid out revenge story filled with angsty and twisty family issues. Sure, there were times here and there where some of the business was a bit meh, but then we got right back to that awesome revenge and angst. Just keep it coming!

The drama was mapped out beautifully. It always knew where it was going and had a purpose. There was always plenty of tension as secrets kept piling up and everyone worked to avoid being discovered. And there are lots of big reveals with each of them being incredibly satisfying to watch play out.

The drama is slick and gorgeous with stylish sets. I just loved every location that was used as a backdrop for all the happenings. I also loved how the modern city was blended with the gorgeous historical buildings. It really created a unique look.

All of the guys were looking stylish in their suits while the women also looked incredible in their fantastic outfits. It’s a nice drama to look at for sure! The soundtrack is something to praise too. It’s primarily instrumentals, but the songs were perfect and created such a rich, tense, and melancholy atmosphere.

There are so many different relationships that have so much going on. We have Mo Hyun being played as a piece in a larger game. Then there’s Boo Cheon who comes to love her, but their entire relationship is built on lies as he works his way to power. Mal Ran only does what is best for her and Boo Cheon to secure their place on top while throwing everyone else to the side.

And Pil Joo is at the center of everything. In his revenge quest, innocent people are thrown into the mix and get hurt. But he is firm in his plans and continues to let everything he has set in motion unfold. It’s just crazy what all is going on between these people!

This is the kind of drama where the bulk of the characters are not all that likable. Aside from Mo Hyun, everyone has an agenda and does varying levels of despicable things. Even our revenge seeking hero Pil Joo does very questionable things.

But you definitely understand him and his justified yet morally questionable revenge quest. And I just have to praise Jang Hyuk again. The emotions going on behind his eyes are incredible, and he completely brings this character to life in a way that no other could.

Also, Boo Cheon was an interesting character for me. He has a lot of unlikable qualities, but he also has a certain vulnerability to him. And you know that he is simply the product of his greedy and twisted family. I developed a fondness for him despite his bad qualities and was rooting for him to somehow break free of his family chains.

Money Flower is perfect those who are fans of over the top, soapy revenge stories. It executes this type of genre to perfection to make for an all around intense, emotional, and entertaining watch. This is one not to miss out on!

19 Responses to Money Flower Korean Drama Review

Absolutely adored this one. The score alone made it but the way they kept you on the edge of your seat was fantastic. I love the ending as well, very realistic with a touch of hope. Everyone got what they deserved and although I would have hoped for a tad more romance, that was the not the main goal of this drama. Brilliant, definitely moved into my top 3.

The music was just wonderful in this drama! It was that final piece of an already amazing drama that pulls it all together to make it complete. I also enjoyed the ending and thought it was very well done.

I too would always prefer to have a bit more romance in a drama, but like you, I don’t think it was needed as the story it told was just fine without that as a main theme. The whole drama was simply fantastic! And thank you for the kind words. I’m glad that you enjoy reading the reviews 🙂

Well…and they sometimes wonder why people start downloading stuff 😔 This sounds so awesome (as you know I love revenge stories) but…as I said last time it unfortunately isn’t available for me on Viki. But I really enjoyed reading your review and it sounds like a very solid and gripping drama. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this: awesomd stuff 😊

Definitely understand! It’s a shame this one isn’t available for you 😦 But things change, so maybe somewhere down the line it will be. And yes, since you enjoy revenge stories, I do think you would like this one if you ever get a chance to watch it 🙂

Yes, it was sooooo good!! I can understand why it would be in contention for your number 1 Jang Hyuk drama. That’s definitely a hard call though when he has such an awesome resume 🙂 I’m glad you were singing this dramas praises early on since you encouraging some others to check it out also encouraged me as they jumped on the bandwagon. It was completely amazing!!

I can’t wait to finish watching this one, I’m about 6 episodes in but having problem with the free site – do you know if it’ll be on DF or Netflix anytime soon? Jang Hyuk is such a phenomenal actor and the biz machinations and revenge story lines are so strong that I don’t mind that the romance takes a back seat.

Jang Hyuk truly is amazing. One of the best for sure! And this drama is a great example of when it’s okay that the romance takes a back seat because yes, the story and everything else is so strong that it completely overshadows it.

I haven’t seen anything about Netflix or DF getting this one. Occasionally, DF picks one up well after completion, but that’s really hit or miss. If the free site is giving you a lot of problems and you don’t want to do a full month membership for a streaming service, Kocowa has a 99 cents a day option if you’re in America. So if you had a few free days somewhere and wanted to marathon it, you could do it for a few bucks. Or I think they may even have a free one month trial that you could cancel afterwards. I know you don’t want any more streaming services to add to the growing collection, lol

Thanks for the tip! I had been reading about the Kocowa service when it was launched because I was worried this exact thing would happen – would need multiple sites in order to view certain content – but alas, it’s the only way. I’ll definitely check it out 🙂

Yeah, Kocowa threw a bit of a wrench into things. But all of their dramas are available on Viki Plus since they partnered with them. Since I already had Viki it was cheaper to upgrade to Plus rather than having Viki and Kocowa. But I thought the 99 cent option was kind of neat and definitely unique. Before the partnership, I thought I might make use of that now and then. But hopefully, you find something that works for you so you can enjoy this drama 🙂

Finally finished this last night. It’s probably one of the best dramas I’ve ever seen! It wasn’t binge-worthy for me, it was too heavy to dive into that much at a time, but OMG Jang Hyuk is the most incredible actor! The writing, production quality, acting by all, really exceptional drama.

I’m so excited that you loved Money Flower!! Yes, isn’t it just a brilliant drama? Everything is top notch and so well done. And Jang Hyuk pretty much always delivers amazing performances, but this role was another level because of how much nuance he brought to the character. He was just so powerful! It’s a revenge melo done exactly how it should be 🙂

This drama (especially with the music) feels like a modern historical. It’s like you could place all the characters in a historical setting (king, prince, queen dowager all of it) and it would fit perfectly.

Completely agree! I got that feeling too as I could identify all of the characters with their historical counterparts. And adding in the mixture of the modern city and historical buildings for the sets enhanced that feeling even more. It was really neat 🙂

I just felt I had to make a comment on this show. 2 more eps to go and I can’t wait to see them. It reminds me of The Godfather with a tough h of the k drama Misty. The performances were superb all round. Kudos to the actor playing Pil Ju. My fave has to be Bo Cheon though. Played brilliantly by the actor. Cute and pitiful at one level and deserving of a good slap at others. Na Hyeon was quietly wonderful as the sweet naive girl whose world is shaken to it’s core as events unfold. Brilliant brilliant show. 9.5/10 from me (loses 1/2 a point for the boring business bits)

Hi Linda! It’s great that you enjoyed Money Flower so much too 🙂 It truly was wonderful in every way from the script, to the production, to the amazing actors with the especially exceptional performance by Jang Hyuk.

I’m glad Bo Cheon was your favorite. His character really grew on me throughout the drama. He was truly the making of his family and did some bad things, but he really was quite pitiful and seemed very vulnerable. I completely agree with you, a brilliant show! 🙂